Barrow AFC boss Mark Cooper stressed his side “set the standard” with their battling 1-0 win at promotion-chasing Northampton Town.

Aaron Amadi-Holloway scored on just his second appearance for the club to secure a welcome three points.

The vital victory opened up a healthy 10-point cushion above the relegation zone for the Bluebirds.

It came on a night John Rooney made his second Barrow debut.

And manager Cooper said: "We were committed all over the pitch and I thought we were really good.

"But that has to be the standard.

“I’m not asking for 75 passes, although I’d like that - but it’s not right at the minute.

“I just want commitment, especially at the back. I want lads to want to head the ball.

“They [Northampton] are going for automatic promotion. They are a good side with good players.

“They have got everything going for them. Nobody expected us to win here.

“It’s great, it gives us confidence heading into the game against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

“We played against a form team, a really good team and we had to work hard.

“No-one gives you anything in football; you have to work hard.

"We defended fantastically well and we always carried a threat.

“It that not normal to put your body on the line? It should be a given.

“You could see with the team that I picked that that was the main ingredient and they didn’t let us down.”

The Bluebirds dented the Cobblers’ promotion push with a spirited performance on the road.

Cooper was desperate for his side to bounce back after their sloppy start gifted Newport County victory on Saturday.

Cooper was desperate to avoid a repeat on Tuesday night and recalled the expeience of Jason Taylor and Connor Brown to his side.

“It’s an old adage that you want to silence the crowd when you come to an away game,” stressed Cooper.

“We did that quite early on. We started the game really well.

“That was what we had worked on to be in the game after 20 minutes instead of being out of it.

“When you do that you give yourself a chance to win.

“For 70 minutes on Saturday we played really well but we were already 2-0 down.

“We wanted to be in the game here.

“Northampton have been playing with two midfield players up front and not a proper striker, so I wanted to play with a really mobile back three.

“We had pace and mobility and we were quick on the turn.

"I was pleased with it.”